Schools' sick leave bank becomes official Tuesday

A sick leave program that's been in use for three months will become official at tonight's School Board meeting.

By Joe CallahanStaff writer

A sick leave program that’s been in use for three months will become official at tonight’s School Board meeting.

The new policy allows employees to donate sick time directly to a specific co-worker sidelined due to a serious accident or illness.

The new system, called the Shared Sick Leave Program, was launched in April through cooperation of the school district and two unions: the teachers’ Marion Education Association and the Marion Educational Support Personnel.

The School Board reached a unanimous consensus months ago to kick off the program, which also allows sick day donations to co-workers needing time off to care for seriously ill immediate family member.

“I’m elated that we can come together for something like this,” said School Board member Bobby James.

James, a retired principal, said over his career he has seen many employees who could have benefited from such a valuable program.

“This is something we have needed a long time ago,” he noted.

So far, 82 employees have donated a total of 433 days for nine people, according to school districk spokesman Kevin Christian.

The push for the new system came earlier this year when Oakcrest Elementary first-grade teacher Robby Strausser, 27, was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer.

Because of exhaustive radiation and chemotherapy treatments, as well as surgery, the popular teacher has missed many days.

Though teachers wanted to donate unused sick time directly to Strausser, district policy before April did not allow for such a gift. School Board Chairman Ron Crawford received an email and floated the idea to district staff and both unions. All the groups worked together to create the new policy. Ever since its creation, Crawford has referred to the policy as a “pilot” program until tonight’s formal vote.

To ensure the program is not abused, the district requires three forms to be completed.

• One form filled out by the recipient.

• A second one filled out by the recipient’s (or immediate family member’s) doctor and signed by the recipient’s principal.

• A third filled out by the donor.

The forms are filled out and taken to the payroll department, which then must transfer the sick days to the recipient’s account.

Teachers have always had a second sick pay bank. Employees who donate at least one sick day to the bank become a member.

If the donating employee has to miss work for a “life-threatening” illness, the employee can apply to a committee to get up to 60 days of sick time.

If the bank drops below 100 days of sick time, roughly 7,000 hours, current sick bank members add more. Employees who do not put sick time in the bank do not qualify for that benefit.

Contact Joe Callahan at 867-4113 or joe.callahan@starbanner.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeOcalaNews.